An Innovation Agenda: Redux

You will be happy to know that my little spammer friend has found a way to bypass my IP blocker and he is sending me 10 posts a day. I guess he has an innovative streak. Ocassionally he posts interesting stuff that is not franco-phobic or racist (see the comment he makes about the fact that NB Power has 2.5 times as many employees as the average electricity utility. I think this type of statistic is valid but has to be set in context. New Brunswick doesn’t have the concentration of population of – well virtually every province and state in North America – the largest urban area in New Brunswick only has 17% of the population. As a result, you likely need more NB Power employees to service this distributed system.)

This is well worn territory. Only PEI has as denser population. However, NB doesn’t have concentrated population in one or two areas. Winnipeg is 75% of Manitoba’s population. Moncton is the largest in NB with only 17% of the provincial population.

You understand what I mean, eh?
Globe investigation
Canada’s largest brokerage firm linked to alleged tax-haven scheme
Colin Ross, a former RBC Dominion Securities vice president in Victoria, B.C., has been linked to 16 foundations in the tiny European tax haven of Liechtenstein — many of which were created for residents of Alberta and British Columbia. The Canada Revenue Agency alleges the foundations were used to hide income and evade taxes. CBC photo
RBC Dominion staff accused of helping clients hide wealth in Liechtenstein
Will you or any of your crowd be affected? Be the first with the news now!

Look. You have found away around my IP blocker. You win I am forced to at least see your comment long enough to delete them. I just don’t know how you have been able to tie me to Liechtenstein. It sounds like an interesting place to visit. My “crowd” is primarily underpaid economic development types and the ocassional bureaucrat. There may be a few fat guys in a room somewhere controlling the world but I am not one of them.

Don’t worry David, i argue that hiding wealth in Liechtenstein is a good thing.

In other words, there is a moral component to such tax havens in that they are greatly beneficial in the battle for human rights and personal freedom. Low-tax jurisdictions are a safe refuge for oppressed people seeking to protect their assets.

For instance, take the Venezuelan entrepreneur. Corruption in Venezuelan’s tax office creates the possibility that an entrepreneur’s financial profile will be sold to thugs, who will kidnap his daughter and threathen to kill her unless the businessman pays a ransom. The United Nations noted, “people with substancial private wealth are targets of criminals of all kinds. In some parts of the world kidnapping has become a very lucrative industry.” A Venezuelan entrepreneur could reduce the threat to his family by putting his money in a Miami bank, secure in the knowledge that his government will not be able to access private financial info about his account.

So the OECD attempt to destroy financial privacy in low-tax jurisdictions is troubling in a world full of predatory governments and countries plagued by criminal gangs. If people lose this means to protect themselves, the consequences could be deadly.

I know mikel, it’s preposterous. And to think, I’ve got 60 other examples from other countries with similar conditions to Venezuela. The gall of low-tax jurisdictions protecting peoples financial privacy from corrupt governments and criminal thugs.

But I realize how caught up you are with one NB example whose trucks are painted yellow and black.